The Leader Descends to the Guild - Part 4

"Let me see if I got this straight..."

The twin-tailed girl spoke with a confused tone, furrowing her brow and placing her index finger between her eyebrows.

"You saved that idiot Darkwind, who was tied to the back of a white tiger..."

I nodded vigorously. The two guys at the back of the room were staring daggers at my back—I could feel their murderous intent down to my bones. There I was, in what we could call an interrogation room. After the curly-haired girl read the letter, she ran inside the inn, and shortly after, these two "friendly" individuals dragged me into this room. Or rather, they kidnapped me, shoving me along without saying a word, ignoring my protests, and then pointing at the only available seat across from this little girl who was now interrogating me.

"And after that, that moron Darkwind handed you a sack of coins with two envelopes and sent you to our guild." The girl, now shifting from confused to angry, seemed to intensify her insults towards the damn cosplayer with each new sentence.

"You had no idea you were carrying his resignation letter or that he named you the new leader—That little shit didn’t tell you anything, huh?!" I swallowed hard and nodded desperately once more.

Now, many of you might be wondering why a perfectly healthy 21-year-old guy of moderately tall height is trembling in fear in front of what appears to be a high school brat, barely 1.5 meters tall, with twin tails in her black hair and a tiny frame wrapped in an adorable white one-piece dress. Well, leaving aside the two thugs guarding the door, the answer is simple: just focus on what this little girl is holding in her tiny hand... Yes... that right there is a kitchen knife... and it’s way too close... like, less than 20 centimeters from my head.

"Is that really true?! Isn't it, you little exhibitionist?" she asked, scanning me from head to toe and taking note of my attire.

The brat swung the knife from side to side in her hand, glaring at me menacingly.

"I already told you, yes! That’s exactly what happened! I had no idea what that damn cosplayer was planning. I don’t even know what’s going on here! Can we start by explaining how I ended up in that swamp? Or better yet, what is this place? No matter how you look at it, everything here is weird!"

It seemed like my complaints had some effect. Silence took over for a brief moment before the little girl sighed and then stabbed the knife into the table between us.

As if resigning herself to the situation, she responded after another sigh.

"I get it, I get it. Hmm—" she pouted, annoyed. "I'll say it plainly. To put it simply, right now, you're asleep."

I didn’t understand what she meant.

"So... this is a dream?" I asked.

The thought had crossed my mind. Maybe none of this was real. I mean… everything sounds ridiculously absurd. White tigers in a swamp? A city that’s clearly out of place? This definitely can’t be real.

"Ouch!" Before I could finish sorting my thoughts, with precise surgical movement, the little brat flicked her right hand. A metallic flash passed between my lips and the tip of my nose.

"This is real," she said calmly, revealing her hand, which held the kitchen knife.

Plop, plop—small droplets of my blood dripped onto the table.

...Wait a minute! What the hell? Did she just cut me? Does this hurt…?

"It hurts, doesn’t it?" she asked, still calm.

"I get it! Put that thing away already!" I responded, trembling.

I covered the wound with my hand. I could feel the pain—it was real. If she had swung that knife just a few centimeters closer, I could have died! That thought sent a chill down my spine. Now that I think about it, a poker-faced schoolgirl threatening your life with a knife in hand is really terrifying. You can imagine just how scared I am right now.

"If this is real, then why do you say I'm sleeping?" I asked, trying to stay as calm as possible.

"Because you are, technically. Right now, there are two of you."

She lowered the knife to her waist and wiped its blade with an old rag.

"The 'you' sleeping on Earth, and the 'you' sitting in front of me."

She placed the knife on the table and interlocked her fingers before continuing her explanation.

"You got pretty lucky," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "You're one of the few chosen to wake up in this world. You could say your existence is now shared between both worlds."

"I don’t get any of this. How did this even happen?"

"We don’t know. No one does," she said, pausing before continuing. "It happened to all of us suddenly. From now on, whenever you sleep in the real world, you'll wake up here. The same will happen if you sleep in this world—you’ll wake up on Earth and go back to your life like nothing happened. Well... almost."

She stopped and pointed at the wound she had just inflicted on me.

"You'll see for yourself when you wake up. In any case, it's too late for more explanations—it's almost time."

The small girl ended her explanation and walked toward the two men at the door.

"You'll be sleeping in Room 4. We’ll continue this conversation tomorrow."

The two men gestured for me to follow them as the little twin-tailed girl exited the interrogation room. My head was a mess—I had no time to process my thoughts, and on top of that, the sharp pain from the wound on my lips and nose was annoying me.

We left the interrogation room and entered an old hallway. The walls were made of worn-out wood, and the floor creaked with every step. This was clearly an old inn—I had noticed from the outside, but now, being inside, it looked even more pitiful. We climbed the stairs to the second floor, where rooms were numbered from one to five. As we walked to my new room, one of the men handed me a white cloth and pointed at his face, miming that I should use it. I quickly wiped the blood off my face and hand and gave him a sheepish smile in gratitude.

Neither of them spoke the entire way. At this point, I wondered if they were mute or if that crazy little twin-tailed girl had cut their tongues out with her kitchen knife. Once we arrived at Room 4 and opened the door, the two men waited for me to enter before shutting it behind me, leaving me alone.

To be honest, I was really confused.

That brat's explanation was, at best, barely acceptable. I had so many doubts and fears, and I still hadn’t fully processed the cut on my face. I really wished this was just a bad dream. If it weren’t for the constant pain, I might actually believe that.

That’s enough for today.

With that thought, all the exhaustion I had accumulated throughout the day surfaced. The room had only an old table and a bed made from scraps of various colored fabrics. It was a pathetic excuse for a bed, but in this situation, it looked like an oasis where I could finally drop my body and get some rest.

I let my tired body collapse onto the bed. I couldn’t think about anything else.

And just like that, I fell asleep—or rather, I woke up.